Wednesday, June 18, 2014

A Touch of Julius Caesar in Aladdin

Aladdin. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Perf. Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, and Linda Larkin. 1992. DVD. Walt Disney Video, 2004.
I've just finished directing a production of Julius Caesar for a group of fourth to eighth graders, and it was a marvelous experience. One of the things I love most is the use the students put to Shakespeare:

"Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look—pass him the mashed potatoes!"

"Let slip the dogs of war—but remember to bring a bag to clean up after them!"

Recently, two of the students pointed out that there's a tiny bit of Julius Caesar in the Disney film Aladdin. As a particular bonus, the clip has a guest appearance by another Disney character: one with not one but two Shakespearean names. I'm talking about Sebastian the Crab, whose familiar name comes from The Tempest (as does the name of The Little Mermaid's Little Mermaid—Ariel) but whose full name—Horatio Thelonius Ignatius Crustaceus Sebastian— has a little bit of Hamlet thrown in.

Here's a brief clip of the Genie pondering how to make Aladdin a prince and quoting from Shakespeare as he does so:

Note: Aladdin also has a character with a name from Shakespeare. Any guesses? It would be a good question for your next trivia quiz . . .

Bardfilmis normally written as one word, though it can also be found under a search for "Bard Film Blog." Bardfilmis a Shakespeare blog (admittedly, one of many Shakespeare blogs), and it is dedicated to commentary on films (Shakespeare movies, The Shakespeare Movie, Shakespeare on television, Shakespeare at the cinema), plays, and other matter related to Shakespeare (allusions to Shakespeare in pop culture, quotes from Shakespeare in popular culture, quotations that come from Shakespeare, et cetera).

Unless otherwise indicated, quotations from Shakespeare's works are from the following edition:

KJ is a professor of English and Literature at a small Christian liberal arts college. In addition to courses entitled “Shakespeare” and “Introduction to Shakespeare,” he teaches a course called “Shakespeare and Film.” Recently, he developed a course titled “Modern Shakespearean Fiction.” Shakespeare is also integrated into nearly all his other courses, including courses on the Literature of Food and the Literature of Humor. Additionally, he is the author of Bardfilm: The Shakespeare and Film Microblog. But you may have known that already.